Daniel Webster

On November 21, 2003, GERTRUDEMARGARET DEAN; devoted wife of the late Daniel Webster Dean, Sr.; beloved mother of Beverly Catherine Dean, Shirley Agnes Ayers and the late Daniel Webster Dean, Jr.; mother-in-law of Charles J. Ayers and Dorothy W. Dean; sister of the late Bernard and Edward Foit, Marie Tribbe, Bertha Hobson, Grace Foit and Catherine Duker. She is also survived by 14 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren, seven great-great-grandchildren, three nieces, six nephews and a host of other relatives and friends.

For every gunshot report taken by Baltimore police, there could be four more they haven't heard about, according to the company behind a high-tech system that city officials hope will help curb the illegal use of firearms. ShotSpotter, which recognizes the sound of gunfire and alerts police, analyzed its data from 48 cities, covering 165 square miles, and found people called 911 to report shots fired in fewer than 1 in 5 events where the system confirmed the discharging of a gun. "We're showing the real inconvenient truth of gun violence, in that it happens more frequently than people are aware," said Ralph Clark, the CEO of SST Inc., which manufactures ShotSpotter.

FIVE years ago, a woman tried to revive her husband with a toilet plunger -- and succeeded.The man had been suffering from a heart attack and the frantic wife, not knowing cardiopulmonary resuscitation, grabbed for the first thing she saw. It paid off. Researchers from the American Heart Association now report that a suction devise inspired by the plunger seems twice as effective as standard CPR.Dr. Kelly Tucker of the cardiology department with the University of Florida says that of 53 hospitalized patients suffering from cardiac arrest, 24 percent of the patients who received suction-enhanced CPR survived while only 11 percent survived with standard CPR practices.

For years, Baltimore police leaders credited steep reductions in shootings to aggressive policing first in three and eventually four large geographic zones with a history of violence. One zone in East Baltimore stretched more than three miles long. Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts on Tuesday announced a plan to refocus those efforts, increasing the number of enforcement zones to 17 while reducing their size. The change, planned with a team of academic researchers, is intended to allow officers to focus more directly on trouble spots.

Jesus quips. "I'm not a speechwriter," he says. "I'm a one-liner kind of guy." He could use better lines in The Book of Daniel, which premieres tonight at 9 on NBC (WBAL, Channel 11). This quirky comedy-drama focuses on the Rev. Daniel Webster (Aidan Quinn), a Vicodin-popping Episcopal priest who chats with a Jesus (Garret Dillahunt) only he can see. Unfortunately, their talks lack the inspiration of the chats on Joan of Arcadia, in which a teenaged girl talked to different human embodiments of the Almighty.

Baltimore's summer violence spiked again last week when 20 people were shot in 80 hours. But fortunately for many victims, the spate of attacks left an unusually low number of people dead. In recent years, Baltimore has seen about one person killed by gunfire for every two who are shot but survive. But in the weeks since Aug. 10, gunfire has been less lethal: Four people were shot to death while about 30 survived their wounds, as of Friday evening. Police spokesman Eric Kowalczyk declined to comment on the figures.

By David Bianculli and David Bianculli,Contributing Writer | October 28, 1993

Tonight it's Fox at 8 for "The Simpsons," NBC at 9 for "Seinfeld" and then "Frasier," followed by a truly tough call at 10: NBC and "L.A. Law" or CBS and a special showing of "Picket Fences."* "The Simpsons" (8-8:30 p.m., WBFF, Channel 45) -- VCR Alert: It's "Treehouse of Horror IV," a brand-new trilogy of "Simpsons" Halloween stories. Parents should remember to use caution when letting younger children watch these sometimes-shocking cartoons; otherwise, get set for a good time. The scheduled segments this year include takeoffs on "Dracula," "The Devil and Daniel Webster" (in this case, it's "The Devil and Homer Simpson")

WASHINGTON - Daniel Webster was celebrated for his oratory and nationalist beliefs but was little known for pushing fellow lawmakers to adopt the postage stamp. As soon as England's one-penny "Penny Black" stamp appeared in 1840, Webster, a senator from Massachusetts, sought to revamp how letters were sent in the United States and its territories. In the Republic's early decades, mailing a letter was prohibitively expensive - about 25 cents when the average laborer earned $1 a day. It took seven years for Congress to authorize postal stamps, which began to make national delivery a viable proposition.

WHIGS were on the march. Whigs were riding in on horseback. Whigs were hauled in by ox carts. They sported Harrison badges and buttons, sold their Harrison almanacs and waved buckeye canes and huge kerchiefs. Barrels of hard cider refreshed the revelers.Baltimore was awash with Whigs. Their cries of "Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too!" clashed with band music and the cheers of the people. Newspapers estimated the crowd on May 2, 1840, welcoming the national convention of Whig Young Men, at 100,000, equal to the population of the city.

STEALING FROM AMERICA:A HISTORY OF CORRUPTIONFROM JAMESTOWNTO REAGAN.Nathan Miller.Paragon House.` 399 pages. $25.95. Does the name Samuel Swartout ring a bell? If not, what about Tammany Hall, Jay Gould, Teapot Dome, Spiro Agnew, Chicago's late Mayor Richard Daley? These men, organizations and schemes to defraud the government, take kickbacks, or pollute democracy by boss rule are just a few getting a black eye in Nathan Miller's "Stealing from America," a fast-paced tale of four centuries of corruption.

Baltimore's summer violence spiked again last week when 20 people were shot in 80 hours. But fortunately for many victims, the spate of attacks left an unusually low number of people dead. In recent years, Baltimore has seen about one person killed by gunfire for every two who are shot but survive. But in the weeks since Aug. 10, gunfire has been less lethal: Four people were shot to death while about 30 survived their wounds, as of Friday evening. Police spokesman Eric Kowalczyk declined to comment on the figures.

First a bicyclist was hit by a stray bullet last Sunday afternoon on Kirk Avenue. Then a man was shot in his car several blocks away on East 32nd Street near Lake Montebello early Monday. A half-mile from there, a man police were trying to question barricaded himself in a house Tuesday. With a flare-up of violence in his Northeast Baltimore neighborhood and other parts of the city, Mark Washington jumped into action. "How can we help?" Washington emailed Richard Worley Jr., the police major in his district.

More than a year after a Howard County teen committed suicide following months of online harassment, county officials unveiled a program Wednesday meant to discourage bullying via computer and in person. "We know we need bold steps to really, truly take on this issue," Howard County Executive Ken Ulman said. "We need a full community solution. " The effort — which could start in the fall if the County Council approves a funding request of $250,000 —would use a mobile application called Sprigeo, an online reporting system that's already in use in about 20 school systems around the country, as a way to make it easier for witnesses to report bullying.

Gun control policies should focus on restricting access to firearms for dangerous individuals or repeat offenders rather than making guns illegal, a prominent gun policy scholar told a group of public health students on Tuesday. Daniel W. Webster, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, touched on Baltimore police tactics and the Jan. 8 mass shooting in Tucson, Ariz., where six people were killed and 13 wounded, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

The heavens did not crack open and the fist of an angry God did not smite the heathen NBC executives after the debut of The Book of Daniel, the controversial new soap opera about an overwhelmed Episcopalian priest and his dysfunctional family. Sure, I watched the two-hour pilot. I watched it because this is what passes for my social life these days: two Smithwick ales, a bowl of cheddar Goldfish and a semiderivative network drama on a Friday night when everyone else is out of the house.

Jesus quips. "I'm not a speechwriter," he says. "I'm a one-liner kind of guy." He could use better lines in The Book of Daniel, which premieres tonight at 9 on NBC (WBAL, Channel 11). This quirky comedy-drama focuses on the Rev. Daniel Webster (Aidan Quinn), a Vicodin-popping Episcopal priest who chats with a Jesus (Garret Dillahunt) only he can see. Unfortunately, their talks lack the inspiration of the chats on Joan of Arcadia, in which a teenaged girl talked to different human embodiments of the Almighty.

For years, Baltimore police leaders credited steep reductions in shootings to aggressive policing first in three and eventually four large geographic zones with a history of violence. One zone in East Baltimore stretched more than three miles long. Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts on Tuesday announced a plan to refocus those efforts, increasing the number of enforcement zones to 17 while reducing their size. The change, planned with a team of academic researchers, is intended to allow officers to focus more directly on trouble spots.

An elderly Catonsville man shot and critically wounded his 72-year-old brother in their home yesterday when he apparently thought he was shooting an intruder, police said. Baltimore County police were called to Wayman Street about 9:45 a.m. after receiving a call that an intruder had been shot. The 69-year-old man, whose name police are withholding, then realized that he had shot his brother in the neck, said Lt. Jim Monahan of the Woodlawn precinct. "He said he thought someone was breaking into his house," Monahan said.

By Joseph R.L. Sterne and Joseph R.L. Sterne,SPECIAL TO THE SUN | December 23, 2003

AS YOU WALK down the steps at the east front of the U.S. Capitol and face half-left, you will see three huge white marble buildings marching in formation along Constitution Avenue. These are the Senate Office Buildings. In the old days, when there was only one such structure, then-Sen. Harry S. Truman liked to tell constituents that all they had to do to get in touch with him was to send a letter addressed to "Truman SOB, Washington, D.C." That all changed in 1972 when the Senate decided to name the two Senate Office Buildings then in existence in honor of two recently deceased colleagues, Richard Russell of Georgia and Everett McKinley Dirksen of Illinois.

On November 21, 2003, GERTRUDEMARGARET DEAN; devoted wife of the late Daniel Webster Dean, Sr.; beloved mother of Beverly Catherine Dean, Shirley Agnes Ayers and the late Daniel Webster Dean, Jr.; mother-in-law of Charles J. Ayers and Dorothy W. Dean; sister of the late Bernard and Edward Foit, Marie Tribbe, Bertha Hobson, Grace Foit and Catherine Duker. She is also survived by 14 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren, seven great-great-grandchildren, three nieces, six nephews and a host of other relatives and friends.